Shooter near police gets prison

A 19-year-old Laurel man who fired a pistol near the state police superintendent during a 1992 undercover drug deal gone sour was sentenced yesterday to six months in jail.

Anne Arundel Circuit Judge Raymond G. Thieme Jr. also sentenced Isaac Brown to five years' probation, but agreed to let him to serve his time each night at the jail and leave each day to attend Annapolis Senior High School.

Brown, of the first block of Morris Drive, pleaded guilty Oct. 18 to possession with intent to distribute cocaine, reckless endangerment and handgun charges stemming from an incident in which Col. Larry W. Tolliver, the superintendent, went to see firsthand what police described as an open-air drug market in Pioneer City.

Colonel Tolliver was driven to the neighborhood on Aug. 7, 1992, by state police Sgt. Diane Kulp.

The officers pulled up to a small crowd in the 1900 block of Arwell Court at about 8:45 p.m. Sergeant Kulp stuck her head out the window and said she "wanted a 20," meaning a $20 bag of crack.

When a 15-year-old boy told her to pull her car into a dimly lighted cul-de-sac, she refused. The teen-ager became angry and threw a paper cup filled with liquid at the car. As Sergeant Kulp pulled away, up to six shots were fired at the car, according to witnesses.

Brown admitted to firing his .25-caliber pistol into the air, but said he did it to impress friends who were nearby.

Three shell casings found at the scene matched his handgun, and a search of his house also turned up 18 plastic bags, each containing about $10 worth of cocaine.

Assistant Public Defender Mark Blumberg, Brown's attorney, said yesterday his client was only 17 when he fired the shots, has since stayed out of trouble, has been attending high school and is working part time at an auto body shop.

He emphasized that the pre-sentence report by state parole and probation agents, which included an investigation into Brown's background, recommended that he be given a suspended jail sentence.

"There was no intention to hurt anybody here. He did not fire the gun at the car, he fired into the air," Mr. Blumberg said.

After yesterday's sentencing, Brown declined to comment, instead shrugging his shoulders at a reporter's questions as he left the courthouse.

His father, Ivan Brown of Laurel, said he didn't think his son was singled out because the incident involved the head of the Maryland State Police.

He said he thought the sentence was appropriate.

"I have no problem with it. It could have been worse, him shooting around police officers like that," Mr. Brown said.